Brain Structure Diagram

Amygdala

The amygdala is commonly thought to form the core of a neural system for processing fearful and threatening stimuli, including detection of threat and activation of appropriate fear-related behaviors in response to threatening or dangerous stimuli. Thus, it is a natural candidate for a neural structure that could modulate the emotional responsiveness of face processing areas in the brain. Indeed, humans with amygdala damage tend to be impaired in recognizing emotional facial expressions, especially fearful ones.